I am down 20 something on the scale and I help keep it together by working very hard at preparing fun stuff for others!
My chef grandmother always said that it is hard to be a good chef and skinny… because of the need to taste everything before it is served. After all, how else would you catch the obvious omissions or unintended substitutions. The chef is the ultimate quality control.
I made just what any young man would want on his birthday and Scott amused me by saying that the steaks were so tender it was easy to enjoy 4 pounds worth. I might add , with room to spare! Flavoring and tenderizing meat has many secrets, but most are all time intensive.
As for me, I do indulge in a Biscottievery day that represents around 200 calories or so. This is my ultra diet version as it contains no nuts ( actually, I was so busy with the steaks, I forgot to add them!)
I think the key to any successful diet is to have something you like in your day that doesn’t taste or represent the word ‘diet’ in any way.
Here we are in 1970, engaged in 1971 and married in 1972. Happy 39th Wedding Anniversary, Sweetheart.
In many ways it really doesn’t seem all that long ago when we married in Superior Court in downtown Los Angeles. I remember the Judge Xenophon P. Lang tied our knot along with about 6 other couples. It was an interesting , but meaningful experience as the Judge tried to give a specific charge to each couple.
Karla drew this for our day.
It is interesting to search on the net to find out what a proper present is for a 39th wedding anniversary. The most common answer left me feel that the gift was inadequate… it was ‘lace.’ Laura wanted to do something special… she thought that I might like to hunt something… large…. and I needed the right toy.
My 375 H & H Caliber Interarms Mark X has an interesting history in its roughly 50 years of life. You never know when you might need to stop a charging Buffalo! Gotta love a woman who knows what makes you happy.
Each of us can remember where we were and what we were doing when we heard about the terrorist attacks in our country and it affected us in many ways: sadness then anger. Karla has autism and through her eyes she communicates her feelings in this memorial of pictures and her tribute to all those who died and suffered at the hands of terrorists.
How far will you go to discover a culinary adventure?
There is no secret that certain parts of the world have food that I find intriguing, delicious and worth the effort. Sometimes old recipes find modern day adherents because the food is timeless and wonderful. In other posts I have talked about the ‘one pot’ cooking method that is duplicated around the world, although I am most familiar with recipes of European origin. In Europe, at one time, a pot continually was cooking and things were thrown in and periodically a portion was drawn out for a meal. I love the story of the famous French tavern that cleaned out their famous pot once a year to the loud objections of their regular patrons!
The early Dutch settlers of southern Africa brought with them in the 1600’s, a large three legged iron pot and a meal they called ‘Potjiekos’ pronounced pot·jie·kos [ póykee kàwss ]. In America our electric ‘crock pot’ does much the same sort of thing, although cooked in the outdoors near or around a fire with hot coals makes a big difference n the final result.
I wanted a Potjie recipe designed with wild game in mind, particularly Elk or Moose and I knew who exactly would be able to give me a start and that was Africhef Michael Tracy. I smiled when I saw one of the ingredients was ‘Rashers’, a term for a particular type of bacon that I haven’t seen since I was a kid…. but I found some and plan to use!
CLICK on the above picture to travel to the Capetown home of Africhef Michael Tracy You can down load his recipe book for about $12
Another favorite of mine is Boerewors… or a nice Afrikaner sausage of beef and pork. I will make plenty of this for the holidays …when we all can sit back over a fire and pour down a cold ‘Castle’ …if I can find a case or two.
